Fig. 4.

Dependence of autosis on the autophagic flux threshold for cancer treatment. a In the course of tumour progression, a defined, usually heightened basal autophagic flux is required to maintain metabolic demands. b Under conditions of cytotoxic stress, enhanced autophagy has been implicated in chemotherapeutic resistance, which will require a non-lethal pro-survival flux well above that observed under basal conditions. c When autophagy is induced through a targeted intervention, the flux response necessary to elicit cell death must be significantly higher than both basal and pro-survival fluxes in order to induce autosis